Plenary rejects objections on EC proposal on RED

29 April 2024: MEPs have rejected a resolution against a European Commission proposal to enlarge the list of eligible feedstocks for biofuel production as part of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).

Last week, MEPs gathered in Strasbourg for the last plenary of the mandate and made several votes to adopt texts. They also had the chance to express their opinion on objections, such as the one on the Commission delegated directive on feedstock for the production of biofuels. Indeed, most MEPs rejected the objection, meaning there are no more obstacles to adopting the directive with the full list of SAFs.

15 April 2024: In the past months, European Commission has proposed extending the list of eligible feedstocks for biofuel production as part of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). ENVI rapporteurs made an objection that was rejected this week in the Committee.

They proposal was to include crops and crops grown on severely damaged lands in both parts of Annex IX intermediate as follows:

In Part A:

1. “Intermediate crops, such as catch crops and cover crops that are grown in areas where due to a short vegetation period the production of food and feed crops is limited to one harvest and provided their use does not trigger demand for additional land, and provided the soil organic matter content is maintained, where used for the production of biofuel for the aviation sector.
2. Crops grown on severely degraded land, except food and feed crops, where used for the production of biofuel for the aviation sector;

In Part B:

3. “Crops grown on severely degraded land excluding food and feed crops and feedstocks listed in Part A of this Annex, where not used for the production of biofuel for the aviation sector.
4. Intermediate crops, such as catch crops and cover crops, and excluding feedstocks listed in Part A of this Annex, that are grown in areas where due to a short vegetation period the production of food and feed crops is limited to one harvest and provided their use does not trigger demand for additional land and provided the soil organic matter content is
5. maintained, where not used for the production of biofuel for the aviation sector.”

Furthermore, the Commission has included safeguards in the Annex to only allow sustainable intermediate crops by including a strict definition that does not allow food crops to be included, including requirements to not trigger additional land demand and maintain soil organic matter content.

The proposal has already been discussed in the EP’s ENVI Committee who first made an objection which was rejected yesterday. This means that for the moment the text has not been refused, but there still is the possibility that certain groups may request an objection at the next plenary session, which will also be the last.

On the other side, the Commission underlined that mature fuels must go to Part B, while feedstocks that could be processed into biofuels with advanced technologies must go to Part A. They also noted that if the objection is successful, the Commission would have to go back to the drawing board and would have to launch a new study that will take a few more years to be completed.